Hydraulic jet stern steering control

ABSTRACT

In a hydraulic jet turbine having a Venturi section, a main propulsion opening in the Venturi section and a shutoff valve for closing the main propulsion section, a secondary valve is provided to remove mud, gravel and other bottom material which may become wedged against the main shutoff valve. Various modifications of control units for attachment to hydraulic jet turbines have side thrust nozzles to provide direct stern steering for vessels. A single ball valve in a control unit for a hydraulic jet turbine is rotated about one axes for selectively closing a main propulsion opening or a reversing nozzle or both of them and is rotated about another axis to selectively close opposed side thrust nozzles or both of them.

United States Patent Stansbury 1451 Dec. 17,1974

HYDRAULIC JET STERN STEERING CONTROL Inventor: Thomas A. Stansbury, 7237S. Shore Dr., Chicago, 111. 60649 Filed: May 12, 1972 Appl. No.: 252,901

[52] US. Cl 115/12 R [51] Int. Cl B63h 11/10 [58] Field of Search..115/11,12,14,15,16; 114/150, 151; l37/D1G. 2

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,943,535 1/1934' Lamond114/150 3,185,124 5/1965 Spence 115/16 3,339,516 9/1967 Lenci 115/123.613.630 10/1971 Jacuzzi 115/12 Primary Examiner-Trygve M. BlixAssistant Examiner-Charles E. Frankfort [57] ABSTRACT In a hydraulic jetturbine having a Venturi section, a main propulsion opening in theVenturi section and a shutoff valve for closing the main propulsionsection, a secondary valve is provided to remove mud, gravel and otherbottom material which may become wedged against the main shutoff valve.Various modifications of control units for attachment to hydraulic jetturbines have side thrust nozzles to provide direct stern steering forvessels. A single ball valve in a control unit for a hydraulic jetturbine is rotated about one axes for selectively closing a mainpropulsion opening or a reversing nozzle or both of them and is rotatedabout another axis to selectively close opposed side thrust nozzles orboth of them.

17 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures PATENTEB UEC] H974 SHEET 10F 6 PATENTEBDEC] 71974 SHEET 20F 6 PATENTED SEC] 7 I974 SHEEI l 0? 6 PATENTEUBEBIH914 3.854.437. SHEET 50F 6 PATENIEB DEC] 7 I874 SHEET 6 OF 6 HYDRAULICJET STERN STEERING CONTROL The present invention relates to steeringdevices for hydraulic jet vessels and particularly to such steeringdevices which can purge themselves of bottom material such as sand andmud.

US. Pat. No. 3,185,124 issued May 25, I965 for a stern steering forhydraulic jet boat, disclosed a steering system for a hydraulic turbinepump utilized for propulsion of marine vessels which has beenparticularly successful. It discloses a butterfly valve which provides acomplete shutoff of the main propulsion opening and a reverse nozzle,thereby providing a completely safe neutral position of the propulsionsystem. Occasionally, when an operator places a vessel equipped withsuch a propulsion system substantially on the bottom of the body ofwater in which the vessel is operating and then increases the pumppressure radically while the butterfly valve is still in the neutralposition, large amounts. of bottom material such as sand and mud becomepacked behind the butterfly valve making it difficult to move it toeither the forward or the reverse positions. The present inventionovercomes this difficulty by providing a method of purging such bottommaterial from the valve. It also provides alternative control structuresfor additional directional steering.

' It is an object of the present invention to provide new and improvedsteering devices to be utilized with hydraulic jet turbines and similarhigh capacity pumps.

An additional object is to provide a steering device for vesselsutilizing hydraulic jets which will provide a positive neutral and atthe same time provide a method of purging such a device of bottommaterial.

An additional object is to provide in conjunction with present steeringdevices for hydraulic jets, a system of lateral thrusting nozzles toincrease steering maneuverability at low speeds.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a steeringdevice for vessels equipped with hydraulic jets that will create adirect lateral movement of the stern of such vessels.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. I is a cross sectional view taken along the centerline of apreferred embodiment of the invention with a shutoff valve in positionfor forward thrust;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 1 showing the sternsteering device with the shutoff valve in position for reverse thrust;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 1 showing the sternsteering device with the shutoff valve in a neutral shutoff position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 taken along lines 4--4;

FIG. 5 is a top elevational view and partial sectional view of theembodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 taken along lines 5-5;

FIG. 6 is a top elevational and partial sectional view of a modifiedversion of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIG. 6 taken along lines 77;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 taken along lines 88;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary elevational view of the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in FIG. 6 taken along the lines 99;

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of yet another modification of theembodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in FIG. 10 taken along the lines l1ll;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary elevational view of the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in FIG. 11 taken along the lines I2l2;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary top partial sectional view of the controls forthe modification of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 10-12;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary cross section view of the controls illustratedin FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary view of an alternate structural arrangement ofthe ball control portion illustrated in FIG. 10, and

FIG. 16 is a partial fragmentary elevational view of a modification ofthe invention illustrated in FIG. 10 and FIG. 14; and

FIG. 17 is an elevational view of a modification of the inventionillustrated in FIG. 9.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail, embodiments of the invention with the understanding that thepresent disclosures are to be considered as exemplifications of theprinciples of the invention and are not intended to limit the inventionto the embodiments illustrated. The scope of the invention will bepointed out in the appended claims.

FIGS. l3 show the cross-section of a jet turbine 10 of the general typedisclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,185,124 and a stern directional steeringcontrol unit 11. A series of grate bars 26 are secured by bolts 12 to ahull I4 and a mounting adapter 15. The jet turbine 10 has a forwardintake housing 16 and an aft discharge housing 17. The forward intakehousing 16 is secured to mounting adapter 15 to receive intake waterthrough the grate bars 26 and the mounting adapter 15. An enginegenerally indicated at 18 has an output drive shaft connected to aturbine drive shaft 32 by a coupling 29. The drive shaft 32 is supportedfor rotation in forward triple ball thrust bearing 30 and an aft waterbearing 20. A number of turbine blades 31 are rigidly secured to thedrive shaft 32, and a number of stator blades 33 are rigidly secured inthe aft discharge housing 17 supporting water bearing 20.

The water will be taken in from the area adjacent to the keel throughthe grate bars 26 and be forced by the turbine past the stator blades 33where it will converge in a nozzle section and pass through thedirectional control unit 11 which incorporates a rudder 36 being securedas by welding to a vertical pivot member 37 and secured at the lower endby means of a further vertical pivot which is the extension of the upperpivot 38 and fastened by suitable means with a threaded fastener 39securing at the same time a reversing nozzle housing 40, having a nozzlesection 41. The rudder blade 42 may be moved through a suitable arc todirect the stream of water from the boat. There is a cut-out section inthe shape of a quarter of a circle 43 to permit the movement of theprincipal shutoff valve for the turbine 44 and a portion of this in thefull open position is seen at 45 which swings through an arc clockwiseto form a cut-out portion of the rudder. The main shutoff valve ishorizontally pivoted and is adapted to move through an arc of 105degrees from a substantially horizontal position 75 degreescounterclockwise to a full closed position as seen in FIG. 3 and 25 to30 degrees further counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 2 to provide fluidinto the reversing nozzle. The full-open position is shown in FIG. 1;the neutral shutoff position is shown in FIG. 3; the reversing positionis shown in FIG. 2.

Details of this will be described more completely in that control meanswhich is indicated generally at 25 will operate the rudder pivot 37 and38 in moving the rudder 36 and its blade portion 42 through the limitedare. This permits the rudder to be moved through a limited angularmovement to steer. Further it will be seen that movement of the rudderassembly 36 and the rudder blade 42 generally will not interfere withthe butterfly shutoff valve because of the cut-out section 43. Thisshutoff valve 44 pivoted about its horizontal axis or shaft is free tomove through its are somewhat larger than 90 from the reverse positionthrough the closed position to the full-open position and still permitthe rudder blade 42 to rotate through its are from star board to port.

Further, it will be seen that the reverse nozzle housing shown generallyat 40 with the nozzle outlet projected downwardly and forwardly at 41consisting of an angular cavity around the pivot point 38 so that whenthe valve 44, which is to be described in greater detail, goes into thereverse position, a flow of water under high pressure is directeddownwardly through a passage 59 into the reversing cavity and nozzle sothat it projects forwardly and downwardly under the boat. It will beseen that at the same time, the turbine may then be directed intoreverse and it will reverse along the identical path that the rudder issteering the boat, i.e., there will not be any side thrust from aquick-shift of the control valve on the turbine to the reverse position.If this were not the case, there might be an accidental movement intoreverse, in which event, the boat would give a sharp thrust to starboardor port and upset the occupants.

Further, in connection with this assembly, the shutoff valve isparticularly important. FIGS. I-3 show three different positions. Thepush-pull cable 52 is connected through rotating link 55, rotating arm56 is secured to a shaft 63 on which is secured shutoff valve 44.

The blade itself is shown at 44 and it has a number of positions fittingin a generally angular cavity formed by arcuate top walls 57 and arcuatebottom walls 58. The valve itself would be perhaps in one size fourinches square and would permit the passage of roughly 16 sq. inches ofwater at any one time. However, only about a quarter of this would beable to go down to passageway 59 to the reversing cavity 40 and nozzle41.

The three positions of this are shown in FIGS. 1-3 and they are thefull-open position, which is shown in FIG. 1 where a leading edge of theblade is forward as at 61, a trailing edge of the blade as at 62 is inline with the flow of fluid through the turbine and provides the leastresistance to the flow and permits the maximum flow therethrough. Asthis valve is rotated from this position counterclockwise, the flowwould be restricted and at the position which is shown in FIG. 2 thevalve will be closed, i.e. no fluid may pass through the turbine.

At the same time, from the fully closed position which is neutral sincethe forward motion of the boat would be arrested and it would be onlygoing on momentum, if any, the nozzle might be rotated counterclockwiseinto an angle of somewhat less than 45 degrees to the position shown inFIG. 3, where the reversing nozzle is in a full-open position and waterfrom the jet turbine passes through the nozzle downwardly under thepressure directed by the vane 44 into passageway 59 and into theenlarged reversing cavity 40 and out through nozzle 41. This provides ajet stream of water under the boat, partially lifting the boat anddirecting the boat to the rear. This is a simple way of providingreverse control for the boat, to retard the boat and to direct the boatrearwardly through at slower speed than forwardly, of course.

Further, it will be seen that this control nozzle can be partial ortotal and is dependent upon the speed of the turbine and other factors.It will also be seen that the rudder blade 44 of the control valve willgenerally be a fairly tight fit in the cavity and will prevent excessiveloss of fluid around the edges of the blade.

It will further be obvious from a careful study of FIGS. 1-3 that theboat can go from full forward back through neutral to full reverse andwill not interfere with the rudder and at the same time, will not causeany change in the operational characteristics of the engine and theturbine, i.e., it may go from full forward into reverse at fullthrottle. Of course, pressure would be building up in the engine at thistime and this might not be the most desirable manner of operating theboat, but

there is no absolute obstruction to movement of the main control valvein the manner indicated.

A Venturi section 34 has a Venturi nozzle 35 which is formed in the aftdischarge housing 17 for the ejection of water into the control unit 11.

The description thus far follows that disclosed in US. Pat. No.3,185,124. However, in the present invention a passageway connects theVenturi section to a pair of ball valves 71 and 72 which in turn areconnected to side thrust nozzles 73 and 74 as may be best seen in FIG.4. Nozzle 73 directs water laterally to port and side thrust nozzle 74directs water to starboard when the respective ball valves 71 and 72 areopened. Suitable linkage connects the control stem 75 and 76 of therespective ball valves 71 and 72 to controls at the control station of avessel. These controls are conventional and may be of any type wellknown to those skilled in the art. In the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5 lever arms 77 and 78 are connected to stems 75 and 76respectively and are connected to control cables 79 and 80 which areoperated from a control station of a vessel through respective cablehousings 81 and 82. The cable housings have one end secured to theflange portion of forward intake housing 16. The ball valve 71 and 72may be opened independently of each other, both may be closed or bothmay be opened simultaneously.

By opening both ball valves 71 and 72 simultaneously water will bedirected through the passageway 70 and forced out both to port andstarboard through nozzles 73 and 74 thereby neutralizing the side thrustwhen both valves are opened. This action clears out, as may be morereadily seen in FIG. 4, any bottom material such as sand, gravel or mudwhich has piled up behind the plate 44 when the plate 44 is in theneutral position shown in FIG. 3. Thus the area in front of the plate 44may be purged of such material and the plate may then be rotated freelyagain.

With the plate of the butterfly valve 44 in a neutral position as shownin FIG. 3, only one valve such as 71 may be opened to produce immediateside steering thrust. As the valve is opened a greater thrust to theside will be exerted and therefore the amount of side thrust can be thuscontrolled. This side thrust would be equivalent to turning nozzle 41 toone side. However, in order to get immediate side thrust the butterflycontrol valve can be put in the neutral position and side thrust toeither side can be produced without the necessity of turning the mainsteering wheel which controls the angle of the nozzle 41 fully from oneend of its travel to the other end of its travel. Thus thrust to theside at the stern of the vessel may be produced and shifted from side toside much more quickly than when it was necessary to turn the mainsteering wheel from one end of its travel to the other end of itstravel.

Instead of utilizing two separate ball valves such as 71 and 72 to shutoff water flow from the passage 70 to the respective nozzle 73 and 74, asingle two-way three position valve could be placed in the passage 70 toselect either a shutoff position for both nozzles or alternatively openpositions for each of the respective nozzles. Such a modification isintended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

Turning now to FIGS. 6-9 a turbine similar to the turbine illustrated inFIGS. 1-5 is shown, but the control unit for the turbine differsgreatly. The butterfly plate 44, the steering rudder 42 and thereversing nozzle 41 have been eliminated and replaced by a smallernumber of moving parts. The parts of the hydraulic turbine whichcorrespond to those illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 bear similar identificationnumbers with the subscript a. A passageway 100 leads to a reversingnozzle 101. A valve 102 in the passage 100 shuts off the flow of waterto nozzle 101.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 8, a passage 103 has a ball valve 104 in it,which, when open, passes water to a port side thrust nozzle 105. Asimilar passage 106 has a ball valve 107 in it and it directs water to astarboard side thrust nozzle 108 when the valve is open. A closure plate109 is mounted on arms 110 and 111. The arms are pivoted on shafts 112and 113 which are secured to the main housing 17a.

For the purposes of high speed operation a separate rudder is provided.For purposes of reversing the boat, the plate 109 is pivoted down overthe main propulsion opening or nozzle 35a thereby increasing the waterpressure within the Venturi section 34a. If then one of the valves isopened, immediate port or starboard or reverse thrust is produced. Ifvalve 102 is open and a side thrust valve is open, reverse thrust isproduced at the same time either port or starboard thrust is beingproduced in order to turn the boat at the same time it moves rearwardly.

A steering vein 120 is connected to shafts 121 and 122 for rotation inthe nozzle 35a. A lever 124 is secured to the shaft 121 at one end andto a push-pull cable 125 which has a cable housing 126 which is securedto the flange portion of the forward intake housing 16a. The plate 109is connected, for rotation about shafts 112 and 1 13, to a push-pullcable 127. The cable 127 runs in a cable housing 128 which is secured tothe flange portion of forward intake housing 160.

An alternate form of the modification illustrated in FIGS. 6-9 would beto attach a single three-way four position valve in place of valve 102with connections not only to reversing nozzle'l01 but with connectionsto two opposed side thrust nozzles located on either side of nozzle 102.In such a modification the threeway four position valve could be shutoff or direct a flow of water to either the reversing nozzle, a portside thrust nozzle or a starboard side thrust nozzle. The constructionof such a three-way four position valve such as ball and cylinder valvesare well known to those skilled in the art. Such modifications of theinvention are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

Turning now to FIGS. 10-12 another modified version of the invention isillustrated. The pump section is essentially identical to thehydrostatic jet illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 and similar elements bear thesame identification number with a subscript b. Only the steering controlunit differs in construction from the embodiments of the inventionpreviously described. A ball 200 is rotatably mounted about a first axis201 and about a second axis 202 which is perpendicular to the axis 201.To accomplish rotation about these axes a shaft 203 is secured to theball 200. The ball 200 rests in a circular cavity 207 formed by thehousing sections 208 and 209. Section 208 is an integral portion of aftdischarge housing 17b and section 209 is secured to section 208 bysuitable bolts. A slot 210 in the housing 209 receives a rectangularslide 211 which slides in the slot 210 and rotationally supports shaft203 as the ball turns about the axes 201 and 202, but its rectangularshape restrains it from turning about the axis 202. In order to rotatethe shaft 203 about the axis 202, a lever arm 214 has one end secured tothe shaft 203 and the other end secured to a push-pull cable 215. Thecable 215 slides in a cable housing 216 which has its end secured to theslide member 211 at the securing lip 217. The cable housing 216 slidesin an outer housing 218 which has one end secured to intake housing 16b.

The ball 200 has a passageway generally indicated at 220 which has acylindrical aft portion 221 and a scoop type forward section 222.Cylindrical section 221 is the' main propulsion nozzle. When it isaligned with an opening 223 in the housings 208 and 209 water from theVenturi section 34b passes through the scoop section 222 and is ejectedthrough the nozzle 221 to propel the vessel forward. A passageway 224connects the ball 200 with a reversing nozzle 225. When the ball is inthe position shown in FIG. 10 a solid portion of the ball closes off thepassageway 224 so that no water flows to the reversing nozzle 225.However, when the ball 200 is rotated about the axis 201 by operation ofthe push-pull cable housing 216, the ball is rotated to the positionshown in dashed lines in FIG. 10. The main propulsion opening 223 isclosed ofiand the nozzle 221 is aligned with the passageway 224. Thescoop section 222 of the ball 200 still receives water from the Venturisection 34b of the turbine pump. This water is forced through the balland into the passageway 224 to be ejected from the reversing nozzle 225.The rotation of the ball between these two positions provides for eithera forward thrust on the vessel by the virtue of water passing out themain propulsion opening 223 or a reversing thrust on the vessel byvirtue of the water being ejected through the nozzle 225. A pair of sidethrust passageways 226 and 227 connect the ball to the port side thrustnozzle 228 and the starboard side thrust nozzle 229 respectively. Whenthe nozzle 221 is in a horizontal position to provide forward thrust tothe vessel and aligned with the opening 223 the solid portions of theball prevent any water from being transferred to the passageways 226 and227. When it is desired to turn the vessel to port the ball is rotatedcounterclockwise as viewed from the top. This directs water to starboardas the clockwise rotation is commenced. As it continues the nozzle 221overlaps a portion of the passageway 227 and water is directed throughthe passageway 227 and out the side thrust nozzle 229. This increasesthe side thrust effect on the control head housing sections 208 and 209and thereby transfers a side thrust to the stern of the vessel. As theball is continuously turned it will reach the position shown in dashedlines in FIG. 11. In this position the main propulsion opening 223 andthe nozzle 221 are directing water only through the passageway 227 andthe side thrust nozzle 229. Rotation is accomplished by the movement ofthe push-pull cable 215 from a suitable control lever 250 at the controlstation of the vessel. Movement of the control cable in the oppositedirection will rotate the ball clockwise as viewed from the top andnozzle 221 will produce side thrust to port in the same manner.

When the ball is rotated to its reversing position it may still berotated as aforementioned about the axis 202. If it is rotated in acounterclockwise position as viewed from the top looking down on theaxis 202, nozzle 221 will overlap passageway 227 to provide a sidethrust to port through nozzle 229, while at the same time providing partof the flow to the reversing nozzle 225 as the clockwise rotationcontinues, all the water from nozzle 221 will be passing throughpassageway 227 and the nozzle 229. Similarly clockwise rotation of theball while in the reverse position about axis 202 will provide port flowthrough passageway 226 and port thrust through nozzle 228 to force thestern of the vessel toward starboard and thereby turn the bow to port.Therefore combinations of direct forward thrust, reversing thrust andeither port or starboard side thrust can be produced by a nozzle formedin a single ball which is capable of connecting the proper nozzles andopenings as required for their various described operations.

The end of the push-pull cable 215 is connected to an arm 218 which isconnected to an arm 219. This arm has its other end rigidly secured tothe shaft 203. The shaft 203 is rotatively mounted in the slide 211 andhas its other end secured to the ball 200. Movement of the shaft 203 inthe slot 210 rotates the ball about axis 201, and rotation of the shaftrotates the ball about axis 202 making it possible to rotate the ball200 about both axes by the appropriate movements of the slide 211 andthe shaft 203.

A single control lever generally indicated at 250 has a tee type handle251 which is rotationally connected to a main shaft 252 by an internalshaft 253. The lower end of the shaft 252 is rotatively secured to thestationary structure of the vessel. The push-pull cable housing 216 isconnected to the lever 252 so that forward and backward motion of thehandle 251 will produce a for ward and backward motion of the slide 211.The pushpull cable 215 is connected to an arm 254 which, in

turn, is connected to an arm 255. The arm 255 is rigidly connected tothe handle 251 so that rotation of the handle about the shaft 253 movesthe cable 251 in and out of the cable housing 216. Rotation of thehandle 251 rotates the lever 219. Thus it may be seen that the forwardand reverse position of the handle 251 rotates the ball about axis 201and rotation of the handle 251 controls the rotation of the ball aroundaxis 202. Moving the handle forward places the ball in the forwardthrust position, and moving the handle backward places the ball 200 inthe reverse thrust position. In any of these positions the handle may berotated to turn the nozzle 221 of the ball to either the port sidenozzle 228 or the starboard side nozzle 229. Thus the single handle bothshifts thrust between forward and reverse and steers the vessel.

If it is desirable to split the flow between main propulsion thrust andreverse thrust when the driving engine is idling and therefore the pumpis idling, this can be accomplished by having an intermediate positionof the ball as it rotates about axis 201 which divides the flow betweenthe opening 223 and the passageway 224. This minimizes the differencebetween forward and reverse thrust and will tend to keep the vessel fromidling forward or idling rearwardly under the force of the water beingejected under idling conditions.

A pair of bow thruster nozzles and valve control means as is more fullydescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,124 may be installed in the bow of thevessel and connected to the Venturi section of any of the hydraulic jetturbine pumps herein described. Thus when such a bow steering system iscombined with the stern side thruster nozzles as has been fullydescribed, a vessel may easily move either its bow or stem to port andstarboard or may easily push the vessel sideways by adjusting the thrustbetween bow and stern side thrust nozzles on the same side of thevessel. This is done without the utilization of a reverse nozzle as isrequired in the disclosure of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,124. Suchmodifications and alterations are intended to be within the scope of theappended claims.

If the central ball valve 200 as shown in FIG. 10 is turned so as tosplit the flow of water between the opening 223 and the reverse nozzlepassage 224, the thrust tending to push the boat forward may be made toapproximately equal the thrust being generated to push the vesselbackward. Thus a position could be found which would neutralize theforward versus reverse thrust on the boat when the turbine is idling orrunning at low speed. A detent can be provided in the control lever forthe ball which will allow an operator to find such an equalizing flowpoint illustrated in FIG. 16. A cam plate 260 with a depression 264 isrigidly secured to the lever 252. A resilient lever arm 261 is contactedby the cam plate 260 through a roller 265 rotatable mounted in the endof the arm 261 when the lever 252 is in a vertical position. Pressure ofthe roller 265 in the cam depression 264 maintains the ball valve 200 ina neutral position with the forward thrust offsetting the reversethrust. Similarly the closure plate 109 in the modification of theinvention illustrated in FIGS. 6-9 may have an intermediate pointwherein flow from an idling or slowly revolving turbine will strike theplate and approximately equalize it forward thrust against reversethrust from water passing through the reversing nozzle so that thedifferential between forward versus reverse thrust is minimized asillustrated in FIG. 17. A

cam 270 is formed in the closure plate arm 110 with a depression 271. Aspring loaded ball 272 is mounted on the housing to enter the depression271 when the closure plate 109 is at the intermediate point with theforward thrust offsetting the reverse thrust.

A further alternate construction of the modification of the inventionshown in FIGS. 6-9 is the placement of a valve between the Venturisection and the closure plate 109. This valve can be of any type wellknown to those skilled in the art and is utilized to shut off all flowwhich might produce either a forward or reverse thrust from beingdischarged from the Venturi section. Similarly a modification of theinvention shown in FIGS. -14 is a valve between the Venturi section andthe ball 200 which is shut off to similarly provide a complete neutralwith no water being discharged from the V enturi section through theball 200.

A further aperture connected to side thrusters may be placed forward ofthe aforementioned valves placed between the Venturi sections and theplate 109 and the ball 200 respectively. Thus a positive shutoff isprovided for bow thrusters and other side thrusters such as illustratedin FIGS. 6-9. All such modificationsare intended to be within the scopeof the appended claims.

A further modification of the invention is to attach the Venturi sectionof a pump as illustrated in FIGS. 1-14 to a conduit which leads to avalve to provide either a positive shutoff or alternatively a flow ofwater to a forward facing nozzle and a rearwardly facing nozzle.Suitable conduits connect the valve to the two nozzles. The pump intakeis placed at a convenient point in the hull of a sailing vessel belowthe waterline. Thus the forward and rearwardly facing nozzles willprovide alternatively rearwardly or forward thrust to a vessel. If thenozzles are placed above the waterline they will not interfere with thesmooth flow of water over the hull of a sailing craft while it is beingpropelled by wind and not by power.

However, a positive neutral position is provided in the modification ofthe embodiment shown in FIGS. 9-12 by the alternate structure shown inFIG. 15. Similar elements have the same identification numerals with thesubscript c. A housing 240 is provided in place of the housing 208. Theball 2206 is similar to the ball 220 shown in FIGS. 10-12 except that ithas a narrower nozzle 241. The housing 240 has a reverse nozzle 241joined to the ball by a passageway 242, and a flat land 243 situatedbetween a main propulsion opening 223c and the opening of the passageway242. Whenever the nozzle 241 becomes aligned with the land area 243, thenozzle 241 is blocked off. This position is shown in dashed lines inFIG. 15. This is the positive shutoff neutral position where no waterreaches any of the output openings, passages or nozzles. Sidewaysrotation about the axis 202 will bring the nozzle 241 into alignmentswith either port 226 or port 227. Thus operation of the steeringcontrols while the ball is in the neutral position can bring about portand starboard thrust without first shifting to either a forward or areverse position of the ball about axis 201.

Further rotation of the ball 2200 brings the nozzle 241 into alignmentwith the reverse passage 242 thereby providing reverse thrust in thesame manner as described for the embodiment of the invention illustratedin FIGS. 10-12.

A detent can be provided with the control lever 250 so that the ball2200 may be positioned with its nozzle 221s aligned with the land 243.Thus the single handle control can easily provide aforward-neutral-reverse position when it is connected to a ball valvestructure as shown in FIG. 15.

I claim:

I. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having aVenturi section, a main propulsion opening in said Venturi section, amain shutoff valve closing said main propulsion opening, said valvebeing able to close the Venturi nozzle to stop flow of water through theVenturi section wherein the improvement comprises another opening insaid Venturi section contiguous to said main shutoff valve to evacuatematerial forming against said main shutoff valve when it is closed andsaid hydraulic jet turbine is in operation and a secondary shutoff valvemeans closing said another opening.

2. A directional control means as specified in claim 1 wherein saidsecondary shutoff valve means comprises a pair of side thrust openingsin said Venturi section, a pair of opposed side'thrust nozzles, apassageway connecting each nozzle to one of said openings, a shutoffvalve closing off each of said opposing side thrust nozzles.

3. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having aVenturi section, a main propulsion opening in said Venturi section, amain shutoff valve closing said main propulsion opening, a reversingnozzle, a passageway into said reversing nozzle from said Venturisection, said valve being able to close the Venturi nozzle selectivelyeither to stop flow of water through the Venturi section or to directwater into the reversing nozzle wherein the improvement comprisesanother opening in said Venturi section contiguous to said main shutoffvalve to evacuate material forming against said main shutoff valve whenit is closed and said hydraulic jet turbine is in operation and asecondary shutoff valve means closing said another opening.

4. A direction control means as specified in claim 3 wherein said mainshutoff valve closing said main propulsion opening comprises ahorizontally pivoted memher.

5. A directional control means as specified in claim 3 wherein saidsecondary shutoff valve means comprises a pair of side thrust openingsin said Venturi section, a pair of opposed side thrust nozzles, apassageway connecting each nozzle to one of said openings, a shutoffvalve closing off each of said opposing side thrust nozzles.

6. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having aVenturi section and a main propulsion opening in said Venturi sectioncomprising,

a main shutoff valve closing said main propulsion opening,

a reversing nozzle,

a pair of opposed side thrust nozzles adjacent to said Venturi section,passageways connecting said reversing and side thrust nozzles toopenings in said Venturi section, adjacent to said main shutoff valve,and secondary shutoff valve means adjacent to said Venturi section andclosing said reversing nozzle and said opposed side thrust nozzles.

7. In combination with the directional control means for a hydraulic jetturbine as specified in claim 6,

another pair of opposed side thrust nozzles mounted forward of thecenter of buoyancy of said vessel and connected by a passageway intosaid Venturi section upstream of said main shutoff valve, and

valve means selectively opening each of another pair of opposed sidethrust nozzles while maintaining the other closed or maintaining bothclosed.

8. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine as specifiedin claim 6 wherein the secondary shutoff valve means comprises athree-way valve connected into said Venturi section by a passageway andhaving output ports connected to said reversing and opposing side thrustnozzles to selectively open each of said reversing and opposed sidethrust nozzles or close all said reversing and opposed side thrustnozzles.

9. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine as specifiedin claim 6 wherein the secondary shutoff valve means comprises areversing valve connected into said Venturi section by a passageway andhaving an output port connected to said reversing nozzle and a two-wayvalve connected into said Venturi section by a passageway and havingoutput ports connected to each of said opposing side thrust nozzles toselectively open each of said opposed side thrust valves or close bothopposed side thrust valves independently of said reversing valve.

10. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine as specifiedin claim 6 wherein the secondary shutoff valve means comprises threeseparate valves, each connecting one of said reversing and opposed sidethrust valves into said Venturi section.

11. In combination with the directional control means for a hydraulicjet turbine as specified in claim 6, a remote control means connected tocontrol both of the valves closing said opposing side thrust valves toselectively open them or close both of them.

12. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine mounted in avessel and having a Venturi section and a main propulsion opening insaid Venturi section comprising,

a reversing nozzle,

a pair of opposed side thrust nozzles aft of the center of buoyancy ofthe vessel, and

a sole combination shutoff valve connected to said main propulsionopening and having output ports connected by passageways to saidreversing nozzle and said opposed side thrust nozzles selectivelyclosing said main propulsion opening and said re versing nozzle andselectively closing said opposed side thrust nozzles or closing both ofthem.

13. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine as specifiedin claim 12 wherein said main shutoff valve means comprise a ball valvehaving a central ball with an aperture therethrough mounted in said mainpropulsion opening of said Venturi section.

14. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine as specifiedin claim 13 wherein said ball is rotated about two axes, said rotationabout one of said axes selectively closing said main propulsion openingor said reversing nozzle or both of them and said rotation about theother of said axis selectively closing said opposed side thrust nozzlesor closing both of them.

15. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having aVenturi section, a main propulsion opening in said Venturi sectionejecting a stream of water, means for reversing the flow of water fromthe main propulsion opening by blocking said stream of water, whereinthe improvement comprises means for positioning and detent means forsecuring said reversing means in a position partially reversing saidstream of water to minimize the difference between forward and reversethrust produced by the reaction of the flow of water.

16. A control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having a Venturi sectionand a sole propulsion opening in said Venturi section comprising,

means mounted adjacent said main propulsion opening for selectivelyreversing the direction of said stream of water by blocking said stream,

another opening in said Venturi section adjacent to said blocking means,

a shutoff valve means connected to said main propulsion opening toselectively prevent water flow from reaching said reversing means, and

a secondary shutoff valve means closing said another opening.

17. A control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having a Venturi sectionand a main propulsion opening in said Venturi section ejecting a streamof water comprising,

means mounted adjacent said main propulsion opening for selectivelyreversing the direction of said stream of water by blocking said stream,

a shutoff valve means connected to said main propulsion opening toselectively prevent water flow from reaching said reversing means,

side thrust nozzles mounted on said Venturi section,

another propulsion opening in said Venturi section contiguous to saidmain shutoff valve to evacuate material forming against said mainshutoff valve when it is closed and said hydraulic jet turbine is inoperation, and

conduit connecting said another propulsion opening to said side thrustnozzles.

1. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having aVenturi section, a main propulsion opening in said Venturi section, amain shutoff valve closing said main propulsion opening, said valvebeing able to close the Venturi nozzle to stop flow of water through theVenturi section wherein the improvement comprises another opening insaid Venturi section contiguous to said main shutoff valve to evacuatematerial forming against said main shutoff valve when it is closed andsaid hydraulic jet turbine is in operation and a secondary shutoff valvemeans closing said another opening.
 2. A directional control means asspecified in claim 1 wherein said secondary shutoff valve meanscomprises a pair of side thrust openings in said Venturi section, a pairof opposed side thrust nozzles, a passageway connecting each nozzle toone of said openings, a shutoff valve closing off each of said opposingside thrust nozzles.
 3. A directional control means for a hydraulic jetturbine having a Venturi section, a main propulsion opening in saidVenturi section, a main shutoff valve closing said main propulsionopening, a reversing nozzle, a passageway into said reversing nozzlefrom said Venturi section, said valve being able to close the Venturinozzle selectively either to stop flow of water through the Venturisection or to direct water into the reversing nozzle wherein theimprovement comprises another opening in said Venturi section contiguousto said main shutoff valve to evacuate material forming against saidmain shutoff valve when it is closed and said hydraulic jet turbine isin operation and a secondary shutoff valve means closing said anotheropening.
 4. A direction control means as specified in claim 3 whereinsaid main shutoff valve closing said main propulsion opening comprises ahorizontally pivoted member.
 5. A directional control means as specifiedin claim 3 wherein said secondary shutoff valve means comprises a pairof side thrust openings in said Venturi section, a pair of opposed sidethrust nozzles, a passageway connecting each nozzle to one of saidopenings, a shutoff valve closing off each of said opposing side thrustnozzles.
 6. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbinehaving a Venturi section and a main propulsion opening in said Venturisection comprising, a main shutoff valve closing said main propulsionopening, a reversing nozzle, a pair of opposed side thrust nozzlesadjacent to said Venturi section, passageways connecting said reversingand side thrust nozzles to openings in said Venturi section, adjacent tosaid main shutoff valve, and secondary shutoff valve means adjacent tosaid Venturi section and closing said reversing nozzle and said opposedside thrust nozzles.
 7. In combination with the directional controlmeans for a hydraulic jet turbine as specified in claim 6, another pairof opposed side thrust nozzles mounTed forward of the center of buoyancyof said vessel and connected by a passageway into said Venturi sectionupstream of said main shutoff valve, and valve means selectively openingeach of another pair of opposed side thrust nozzles while maintainingthe other closed or maintaining both closed.
 8. A directional controlmeans for a hydraulic jet turbine as specified in claim 6 wherein thesecondary shutoff valve means comprises a three-way valve connected intosaid Venturi section by a passageway and having output ports connectedto said reversing and opposing side thrust nozzles to selectively openeach of said reversing and opposed side thrust nozzles or close all saidreversing and opposed side thrust nozzles.
 9. A directional controlmeans for a hydraulic jet turbine as specified in claim 6 wherein thesecondary shutoff valve means comprises a reversing valve connected intosaid Venturi section by a passageway and having an output port connectedto said reversing nozzle and a two-way valve connected into said Venturisection by a passageway and having output ports connected to each ofsaid opposing side thrust nozzles to selectively open each of saidopposed side thrust valves or close both opposed side thrust valvesindependently of said reversing valve.
 10. A directional control meansfor a hydraulic jet turbine as specified in claim 6 wherein thesecondary shutoff valve means comprises three separate valves, eachconnecting one of said reversing and opposed side thrust valves intosaid Venturi section.
 11. In combination with the directional controlmeans for a hydraulic jet turbine as specified in claim 6, a remotecontrol means connected to control both of the valves closing saidopposing side thrust valves to selectively open them or close both ofthem.
 12. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbinemounted in a vessel and having a Venturi section and a main propulsionopening in said Venturi section comprising, a reversing nozzle, a pairof opposed side thrust nozzles aft of the center of buoyancy of thevessel, and a sole combination shutoff valve connected to said mainpropulsion opening and having output ports connected by passageways tosaid reversing nozzle and said opposed side thrust nozzles selectivelyclosing said main propulsion opening and said reversing nozzle andselectively closing said opposed side thrust nozzles or closing both ofthem.
 13. A directional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine asspecified in claim 12 wherein said main shutoff valve means comprise aball valve having a central ball with an aperture therethrough mountedin said main propulsion opening of said Venturi section.
 14. Adirectional control means for a hydraulic jet turbine as specified inclaim 13 wherein said ball is rotated about two axes, said rotationabout one of said axes selectively closing said main propulsion openingor said reversing nozzle or both of them and said rotation about theother of said axis selectively closing said opposed side thrust nozzlesor closing both of them.
 15. A directional control means for a hydraulicjet turbine having a Venturi section, a main propulsion opening in saidVenturi section ejecting a stream of water, means for reversing the flowof water from the main propulsion opening by blocking said stream ofwater, wherein the improvement comprises means for positioning anddetent means for securing said reversing means in a position partiallyreversing said stream of water to minimize the difference betweenforward and reverse thrust produced by the reaction of the flow ofwater.
 16. A control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having a Venturisection and a sole propulsion opening in said Venturi sectioncomprising, means mounted adjacent said main propulsion opening forselectively reversing the direction of said stream of water by blockingsaid stream, another opening in said Venturi section adjacent to saidblocking means, a shutoff valve means connected to said main propulsionopening to selectively prevent water flow from reaching said reversingmeans, and a secondary shutoff valve means closing said another opening.17. A control means for a hydraulic jet turbine having a Venturi sectionand a main propulsion opening in said Venturi section ejecting a streamof water comprising, means mounted adjacent said main propulsion openingfor selectively reversing the direction of said stream of water byblocking said stream, a shutoff valve means connected to said mainpropulsion opening to selectively prevent water flow from reaching saidreversing means, side thrust nozzles mounted on said Venturi section,another propulsion opening in said Venturi section contiguous to saidmain shutoff valve to evacuate material forming against said mainshutoff valve when it is closed and said hydraulic jet turbine is inoperation, and conduit connecting said another propulsion opening tosaid side thrust nozzles.